ELITEXC'S JULY 26 CARD COMING TOGETHER

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ELITEXC'S JULY 26 CARD COMING TOGETHER
Monday, June 30, 2008 - by Damon Martin - MMAWeekly.com

Details on the upcoming July 26 EliteXC show in California are starting to emerge, as it appears Antonio Silva will face Justin Eilers in a heavyweight showcase and several top Brazilian fighters may soon be added to the CBS lead-in show on Showtime.

EliteXC vice president Jared Shaw spoke to MMAWeekly.com on Monday and confirmed the company’s “intention” to finalize a fight between Silva and Eilers. Currently, they are awaiting the signed contracts, but they are expecting the match-up to happen July 26.

“It’s still in discussion with EliteXC officials if we’re going to make it a title fight or not,” Shaw said about the long-standing rumors of Silva fighting for the EliteXC heavyweight title on the show. “But we feel if we did, Justin is a credible and worthy opponent, and rival challenge for Junior Silva.”

Shaw also stated that the company is planning on a women’s fight for the CBS portion of the show, but currently they have no signed agreements, so names could not be mentioned at this time. It has long been speculated that one of the participants in the women’s fight would be Josh Barnett student Shayna Baszler, but again nothing has been announced.

The lead-in portion of the card, which will air on Showtime, will be headed up by Antonio Silva and be fleshed out by a “night of the Brazilians.”

Shaw stated they expect a top Brazilian light heavyweight and featherweight to compete on the card, but no opponents have been found for the two fighters as of yet. It is likely the two Brazilian fighters are Rafael Feijao, who made an impressive showing in his last fight finishing Wayne Cole in the first round, and Wilson Reis, who put on a submission clinic during his undercard fight at the first CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night Fights in May.

Currently, EliteXC has not set a total number of fights that will happen for either the Showtime or CBS portions of the broadcast. The Showtime card will weigh heavily on whether the Antonio Silva bout is for a title because of the length of the fight moving from three to five rounds.

EliteXC expects to announce more bouts in the coming weeks.